The Lost Boy
by Fuzzyhamish
Summary: Harry is in the local town play and is anxiously awaiting for it to start but where is his Dad?


Harry twisted his hands nervously in his lap. The show was set to begin in less than ten minutes. He wasn't ready. He was going to mess up he just knew it, and then his dad would laugh and everyone would laugh at him. Harry looked down at himself and blushed. Miss Johnson had said he looked dashing in his green tights, but he just felt stupid.

Harry knew that this whole thing was his father's fault. He had made Harry go to the local town's annual play auditions and look where he was now. He was about to play as Peter Pan on stage in front of the entire town. The entire cast had been practicing for what felt like forever, and now the night was finally here. He heard Miss Johnson call for them to take their places and he straightened out his shirt and hat, moving to stand just off to the side of the curtain. His first scene wasn't until a bit later, but he wanted to catch a glimpse of the audience to see if his dad had come.

Harry peeked out from behind the heavy red curtain his eyes sweeping the audience looking for the familiar black smock that was Severus Snape's staple, but it wasn't there. Harry felt his face crumble and his stomach clenched. Where was he? Harry scanned the audience again, hoping he had missed him, but he still wasn't there. He felt a large lump in his throat and tried to swallow it back down, but it wouldn't budge. He slipped back behind the curtain and swiped furiously at his traitorous eyes. He wasn't crying. He would not cry, there was no reason to be upset. The Dursleys would have never come so why had he expected Snape to? It had only been a year since Dumbledore had taken him from Dursleys and plopped him with Snape. Even though they'de had a bumpy start, eventually they grew to get along, Snape even allowing Harry to call him Dad. Harry thought that after everything they had been through he would have cared enough to come.

Harry walked up to Miss Johnson and tugged lightly on her sleeve,

"Miss Johnson? Can we just...can we please wait a few more minutes?" Harry asked his green eyes wide and pleading.

Miss Johnson smiled down at him, her brown hair falling loosely on her shoulders. "Sure honey, but only a few more minutes okay?"

Harry nodded eagerly and walked away, hugging himself. One minute….he _would_ come...two minutes….he had promised...three…..four….five minutes went by. He saw Miss Johnson nod at the guy who was controlling the lights.

Harry saw Alice, the girl playing Wendy, rush past him and lie down on the bed on the stage. The lights went on and the curtain pulled back. The show had begun. And his dad still wasn't there.

Harry's scene was coming up in a few moments. His hands were sweating as he repeatedly rubbed them on his itchy tights. His dad still hadn't come, not that Harry was hoping that he would of course. Ten years old was much to big to want his dad to come to his dumb play. He schooled his face into a calm expression and took a deep breath before walking on stage. Harry walked up to 'Wendy' and delivered his opening line, keeping his eyes straight ahead, looking into the burning bright lights hitting the stage. He went through the motions of the entire scene, flawlessly reciting his lines, not once allowing himself to look at the audience.

Harry had one more line left before the scene was over and, against his will, let his eyes quickly flit over the audience. His heart nearly burst out of his chest when they landed on his dad, Severus Snape, smirking up at him from the first row, a large red gift bag in his arms. Harry felt the corners of his mouth twitch, but he knew that he wasn't supposed to smile, so he turned away and delivered his line, then exited quickly off the stage. Behind the curtain, Harry let an enormous grin split his face as relief washed over him. He had come he had come he had come.

Harry did the entire play without messing up once. He and Tinkerbelle heroically saved the day and took Wendy back home. When it was all over he came out with the rest of the cast and bowed to the thundering applause audience. Harry felt like his cheeks were gonna fall off from how much he was smiling. Finally they were allowed to go see their parents. Harry jumped off the stage and bounded over towards where his dad stood, stopping a few feet in front of him suddenly feeling very shy. What if he hadn't liked the play? He looked up at the imposing man through his fringe and shuffled his feet.

"Hi Dad." Harry said his voice barely above a whisper. He heard Snape give a soft sigh and then felt him kneel down next to him.

"Harry?" his dad said, his voice soft.

"Yeah?" Harry glanced at him before quickly looking back at the floor.

"I'm very proud of you. You were the star of the show." He felt Snape lay a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Harry looked up at him again. His father's harsh features were softened by the slight smile on his face. "Thanks Dad." Snape leant forward and hugged him tightly placing a kiss on his forehead.

"I brought you something."

"You did?" Harry asked, cocking his head to the side.

Snape reached for the big shiny red bag on the floor next to them and handed it to his son. Harry's small hands grasped the bag and he glanced at his dad, before cautiously peering over the top. His face split into a grin and yanked the bag open wider, pulling out a large plush, green and purple dragon with a long spiked tail.

"Do you like it?" Snape asked, his eyes looking more serious.

"I love it! Thanks Dad!" Harry hugged his father again. "I'm glad you came."

"So am I Harry."

Snape grabbed his son's smaller hand in his larger one and led him out of the building, glad he had stopped on his way there to get the dragon Harry was now hugging tightly to his side.


End file.
